Colorblind
by GEFM 420
Summary: Clark POV on his relationship with Chloe and the revelations he's made over the years jumps between seasons. Based on the fanvid Colorblind.


Colorblind

Pt. 1

"It's like you find out this secret and it colors everything."

Chloe Sullivan liked Clark Kent. Meaning, like liked, as in has feelings for. The kind of feelings that made absentmindedly engraving 'Chloe Kent' into her notebooks an everyday ritual.

Sure this wasn't earth-shattering news (the student body all privately believed they had been going out in secret for years), but to the farm boy in question it had meant everything.

After his best bud Pete had told him the bewildering truth, Clark stood frozen in the career center unable to form a coherent thought. The shock alone snatched the breath from him, reminding him of earlier that year when he'd found out his true origins. It couldn't be real. Pete must've been joking and this was all some twisted prank. He knew Chloe so well; he wasn't her type. She liked city guys. She's always liked sharp well-dressed metropolitan sorts. He _knew_.

Then he began to see it. He remembered how they had met, how his friend Ryan said she wanted more from him, how she had insecurities with Lana, and how she always smiled like she was keeping a secret just for him.

Suddenly without really meaning to a big lopsided obnoxious grin plastered onto his face.

A girl, a pretty, normal girl really liked him and even wanted to go out with him. Not just any girl, but his best friend. Chloe was smart and driven, certainly never boring. The more he thought about it the more he began to ponder his own feelings for her. The kisses they had shared had all been initiated by her but never one-sided. The reason for that was often pushed from his mind. She was just a friend. Except that didn't seem right anymore. Something had changed now. He was different and to him, so was she. Somehow all along he had missed how wonderful she was. Maybe he never saw it as a possibility because of his "Lana blinders" or his certainty that Chloe could never want any Smallville boy. His feet began to carry him out of the center and into the hallways, gravitating unconsciously towards Chloe's locker. From a considerable distance he saw her hunched over her combination looking upset. He'd never had a girlfriend and didn't really know how to talk to her at this point or if she wanted him too. As Clark was contemplating his plan of attack an injured boy came up behind her and the two started talking excitedly. He recognized the figure as the cartoonist Justin Gaines, who had been incapacitated last year in a tragic hit and run accident. Despite his sympathies, watching this exchange birthed something new in him. Violence was something that rarely compelled him, but in this instant—He immediately wanted to speed over, throw him into the lockers, and steal her away. This primal possessiveness only amplified when he saw how much she was touching this guy. Since when did she like him? And was he asking her out? She caught Clark out of the corner of her eye and raised her voice, "Yeah, why not? I'm in the process of re-evaluating my life too." They walked off arm in arm and it took every last bot of Clark's self control not to punch his hand clear through the wall. 

Now there was no doubt. He was fuming with jealousy. And then a more unsettling revelation came to him.

Chloe had _always_ been more than a friend.

"I just can't believe I never saw it before."

--------

Her voice wavered a bit when she urged him, "You have to." And she was right; he had to go save the world. It was his responsibility and his to bear alone. Even so, it felt wrong leaving her here despite her assurances.

The world was in a dark descent into chaos as humanity without its technology moved into primal reversion. Violence was everywhere, taking hold with a life all its own. The disease was so widespread his powers, magnified could only be but a feeble opponent.

Regardless his heart was rooted to the spot, stubbornly willing to stand by her as civilization itself crumbled around them. It was a weird feeling being that carefree in the face of things. In more ways than one, it terrified him.

Right now his number one concern ought to be for the world, for the imminent danger of an evil alien dictator that was planning world domination. But it was for one bleached blonde, in a forgotten basement of the Daily Planet. When he looked at her, he meant to tell her something, anything to persuade her to come along with him. At the very least he could watch over her then and make certain of her safety.

The plea in her eyes contradicted him. He would only bring her into dangers far greater than those of mortal men. His selfishness would put her between himself and the AI that was Milton Fine. Maybe if things took a turn for the worse, Zod would also appear and use her against him. No matter what he couldn't do that to her.

Before he turned to leave he noticed the way the high beam of the car shone on her. Clark felt immediately as if she were something to be cherished and beheld. Seeing her as if he'd been blind all his life, he hoped to remember her just this way in her sanctuary entirely unharmed.

If only he could return to her again, in exactly the same way.

Each harrowing step he took forced him to confront his fears. The destruction and madness of the streets amplified in his ears and he imagined her there, alone. He could hear every person in need calling for help, for him and he wondered where he'd be if she would need him. Would he be able to come if she called? He began to dread the moment when he would arrive too late.

What if she wasn't going to be alright? What if she died? He could hear everything and nothing drowning him at once.

Then when sound seemed to cease on the dying planet her voice surfaced laced with an emotion he didn't recognize.

Her dark thoughts mirroring his, "Clark, I don't know if I'll ever see you again…"

And before she had crossed the room, time slowed for him unconsciously.

Clark Kent liked Chloe Sullivan.

He just didn't know how he never saw it before.


End file.
